School Choice in Sweden
BBC‘s Liz MacKean offers great report on school choice in Sweden where “There are now more than 1,100 such schools in Sweden, funded by the state, but operated independently.” And “About 10% of all students of compulsory school age now attend the new schools, and in the upper secondary level…
Two Sisters Improve Reading Online
When I was superintendent in Federal Way, two of our best reading teachers happened to be sisters, Gail Boushey and Joan Moser. I had the good fortune to run into them on a flight this week. They’ve published two great books, The Daily 5 most recently, and run an…
Games Will Change Everything
Games (and other smart adaptive learning media) will be part the core instructional program for most kids in a few years because they are: Adaptive: continuous performance assessment identifies and targets a student’s instructional level and provides instant feedback–it’s personalized learning; Engaging: good games use creative media to teach key…
Why Isn’t Everybody Learning Online?
Pretty good free online K-12 learning options exist in most states, so why aren’t more students learning online? There are more than 2 million students learning online and that’s growing by more than 30% annually, but there are five significant barriers to more rapid adoption: Babysitting: Don’t underestimate the custodial…
Edu-Innovation, an Oxymoron?
In preparation for the New Schools Summit, following are a few thoughts for a great group. Acknowledging the difficulty of penetrating the complex decentralized maze of US public education, a New Schools regular asked a dinner gathering of notable reformers last week if education innovation was an oxymoron.
Go West (to China), Canada, and Take Your Teachers With You
Two great stories surfaced in my Twitter feed today and they speak to the strange and illuminating practices in Chinese education industry. Some if it could be instructional for those of us in the Americas trying to make a business out of teaching. One was a story about Canada…
Rocketship Ready to Takeoff
Rocketship Education a charter network in development in San Jose, is working hard to create the future. It’s an early hybrid–a blend of online and onsite learning. Kids spend about a fifth of their time learning basic skills online; this allows Rocketship to run a long day/year program and…
Make Early College Available to All Students
National Journal takes up the subject of Early College High Schools today. Here’s my entry: Call it coincidence, but in one week in 2002 I had a bus ride with Cece Cunningham, a phone call from Bard President Leon Botstein and a discussion with Utah Gov. Leavitt that…
Building a Better Teacher (the Online Version)
New York Times Magazine got the title right but the story wrong. Doug Lemov is great and his book, Teach Like a Champ, will be a big contribution to the sector. But we’re still trying to solve a 1990 question—how does one teacher lift the achievement level of…
What Stuck? Key EdReformer Question
What Stuck? What faded? As an EdReformer, it’s interesting to think about the investment of time and money with a little hindsight. Seven years ago, Caprice Young chaired the LAUSD board. She went on to run the California charter association and is now CEO of KCDL, a leading…